The Carrera was named after the La Carrera Panamericana road race that took place in Mexico. The race was infamous for its fatalities and even in an era that valued life less preciously than today it was cancelled in 1954 due to excessive loss of life. The race was a nine stage, six day race across the country and although it was organised as a "tourist attraction" by the government, after five short years and 27 fatalities it was deemed that enough was enough. Heuer had initially commemorated the race in 1953 with a Ref 3336 chronograph, but it was not until 1963 that Heuer was finally able to bring the Carrera named series to market. The final piece of the jigsaw was the newly designed crystal tension ring, allowing the minute divisions inside the crystal, but crucially not on the dial, to achieve the simpler dial design, Jack Heuer was after. 

The very first of these new Carreras were the 2447 and 3647 variants, priced at $89 and $69 respectively, and although a myriad of dial designs followed (including a variety of scales such as tachymeter, decimal and pulsation) the initial batch of serials were the purest plain dials, the 2447N & S models. What makes the plain eggshell dials so special for Carrera collectors is that they were only in these early batches (unlike the black dials which ran throughout the Carrera timeline), so as a consequence they are much rarer. They were phased out and replaced by the metallic silver dials during the poly-back run and the last eggshells are observed in the early 6xxxx serial range. The plain eggshell dial is also much harder to find in near mint condition, the dial seemed to suffer from degradation (unlike the black dials) one of the reasons why it was soon replaced by the metallic dials. I have observed around 30 of the 2447 eggshell dials in total (to include both Swiss only and Swiss T), with an estimated production of less than 300.

Collectors looking for originality should note that the very earliest 2447S eggshell came with a thinner minute hand compared to later Carreras, unsigned crowns, were only Swiss signed (no T) and would be double signed Ed Heuer & Co (case back and movement bridge). Later half-way during the poly-back run we start to see the introduction of Heuer Leonidas bridges to coincide with the Heuer Leonidas merger in 1964. It is also worth noting that the notoriously imperfect serial engraving styles changed a handful of times throughout the lifecycle of the Carrera and these early examples had a larger style than any of the batches that followed (see below). Values for the eggshell 2447 Carreras vary between about £5000 for a poor example to say £15000+ for the very best (although very few have been found mint) and remain under the radar considering their significance, rarity and beauty.

To learn more about the Heuer Carrera range click on the link below to preview and order a copy of the Heuer Carrera 1962-85 book or the Heuer Superstars book (Heuer Holy Grails) available to buy exclusively via Blurb.